Hand sanitizers are now part of our life as we have to fight against Covid-19. It is recommended that we wash our hands frequently due to the explosion of viruses all over the world. We must use actual hand sanitizers. Using fake sanitizers will have adverse effects on our bodies. The real sanitizer should have 60 percent of alcohol in it. It should have a PH between 6-8% and microbial efficacy of 99.9%. One should also check for the standardization mark and its manufacturing details. Many of the people are trying to be creative and are preparing homemade sanitizers. Hand sanitizers should be prepared with a proper procedure so that they do not harm our skin. Here are a few tests to check whether the given sanitizer is real or fake.
Tests
- Tissue paper: It is a simple tissue paper test. Take a tissue paper and draw a circle in the middle with a ball pen. Pour some sanitizer on the inked part. If ink starts fading means it is fake but if it dries quickly without spilling means it is of good quality.
- Hairdryer test: Take some sanitizer in a bowl and try to blow it with a dryer. If it dries within 5-6 seconds it is real.
- Flour test: Take some flour and add some sanitizer, try to knead it as you do with water. If you can do it easily without flakiness, it is fake.
The CBI has alerted on the use of methanol-based hand sanitizers. It is essential to know what type of sanitizer you are using. Using methanol-based sanitizer is harmful to the skin and can lead to several health-related issues. It is essential why so? Methanol can act poisonously especially with kids and older people. We use hand sanitizer almost every 1-2 hours. It is essential to know that its excessive use as a hand rub can result in intense itching, irritation, loss of moisture, and inflammation. All these symptoms may take time but it can affect adversely as it is directly absorbed by the skin.
Create awareness..
Using methanol sanitizer leads to severe other problems such as eye irritation, blurred vision, and sometimes even complete loss of eyesight. In some of the cases, people have faced Neuro-psychiatric symptoms such as hearing voices, severe mood changes, feeling lethargic, shivering of hands, and legs because it affects the nervous system badly. It is important to know the difference between actual and fake sanitizers. Due to an increase in demand, many of the factories have started with new products as many of the people are unaware of all this. One doesn’t need to always use hand sanitizer, there are many other options also.
- Replace your sanitizer bottle with regular water and soap when you are sitting at home.
- Avoid buying sanitizers of unknown/ new companies.
- Purchase it only from a pharmacy.
- Make sure that none of the people around you are using the fake sanitizer. Use your sanitizer when you are going outside.
- If you are facing any irritation, headache, or any other issue after using sanitizer, take help from your doctor at the earliest.
Conclusion: Be safe and be vigilant as there is no way to recognize fake sanitizers by simply watching.
Utpal Khot
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